The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

From time to time I read about proposals for a national law requiring reciprocity of concealed carry permits between the states. The most recent example is the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, introduced by Senator John Cornyn, R-TX.

Sadly, I have some bad news about this proposal, and about a national CCW reciprocity law in general: It would be unconstitutional under the Tenth Amendment.

Consider:

Nothing in the US Constitution gives Congress the authority to regulate the issuing or honoring of concealed carry permits issued by the States. In fact, nothing in the Constitution addresses concealed carry permits at all. Therefore, Congress has no authority to order the States to honor permits from other States.

Now, let me say that I am in no way saying we should not be able to carry a concealed weapon. And, I am not saying that my Georgia Weapons Carry License should not be honored in other states. However, the method by which this is accomplished is the issue at hand, and the current proposal doesn’t pass muster.

As an intelligent American, you know this to be true, even if you wish it were not.

There are several camps out there who make arguments that we should support this unconstitutional law. Let’s take a look at one.

The Driver’s License Argument

“The law should force States to honor my carry permit, like it forces them to honor my driver’s license.”

This claim, unfortunately, is based on ignorance. The honoring of drivers’ licenses is the result of an agreement among the States called the Driver Licence Agreement. Does that sound familiar? It should, because that’s what currently regulates reciprocity of carry permits – agreements between the States.

Why not a law? Because nothing in the Constitution gives Congress authority over licensing drivers, and at one time, we actually paid attention to the Constitution.

Thank God.

Think about it: the Federal government already will retain highway funds from States, unless they institute laws it agrees with, and mandates, like the right speed limits, or the right drinking age. Federal control of drivers’ licenses would open us all to such abuse as we can only imagine.

And if you follow that line of reasoning, you can then cut off the next line of reasoning for federal carry permit reciprocity: “Why don’t we just pass a law (or amendment) giving the feds authority over carry permits?”

Oh.

My.

God.

That, my friends, leads exactly where you think it leads.

Now, I know this is a big disappointment to a lot of people. Believe me, I wish we could have it, too, but I am not willing to give up my Constitutional rights for something I want, and you shouldn’t be, either.

As I have reported before, when I shopping for my first handgun in 1992, I was at a gun store in Marietta, Georgia, and had decided to buy a Taurus PT92, the Brazilian copy of the Beretta 92. However, when the clerk asked for my identification so he could run my background check, I discovered that, as an Alabama resident, I could not legally purchase a handgun in Georgia.

Why? Good question. The originators claimed it would cut down on gun trafficking by criminals, since they could not be sure that an out-of-state purchaser was legally allowed to by a gun. There was no easy way to run a background check on someone out of state in a reasonable length of time.

Given the improvements in communications since the law was first passed, and especially in light of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, this argument has become invalid.

And, finally, the courts have agreed, as a federal appeals court ruled today that disallowing interstate handgun sales through licensed FFL holders was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.

This should mean that eventually, once the BATFE sends guidance to gun stores and FFL holders, we would be able to buy handguns through any FFL holder, no matter where it is located.

Now, given my penchant for Glocks (having bought, instead of the Taurus, a Glock 17, upon return to Alabama), how would my life be different today, had I bought the Taurus?

Would I have won free Tauruses in the Taurus Shooting Sports Foundation matches?

In an article I read today about a proposed Federal ban on magazines of greater than 10 round capacity, proposed by Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty (D-Connecticut) who represents Newtown, Connecticut, I read this paragraph:

In the five minutes Esty took to explain her and her cohorts’ reasoning behind the bill she said, “Limiting high capacity magazines will save lives and we know this because it has.” She cited that 11 children escaped when Sandy Hook elementary school shooter XXXXXX* stopped to reload. However, the state attorney’s official report on the tragic incident states otherwise. The report says the children had a chance to escape a classroom when XXXXXX paused in his shooting because either the rifle malfunctioned or he had problems reloading—with no conclusion to the reason why XXXXXX stopped shooting.

(* As you know, I refuse to publicize the names of mass killers.)

The bold text is where I see a coming gun control effort – why not a law prohibiting reliable guns? As I see it, clearing malfunctions would be a lot more difficult than magazine changes, and, in the eyes of the gun control crowd, make us a lot safer.

The National Reliable Firearms Prevention Act should be coming by year end. Sponsors? I welcome your predictions.

+++++

Just in case, we should all buy 1911’s. They would be compliant.

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http://fillyerhands.com/2015/02/09/observations/#commentsMon, 09 Feb 2015 14:30:22 +0000http://fillyerhands.com/?p=5530]]>I have been giving some thought to my participation in the shooting world, of which this blog has played a part. Admittedly not all of my thoughts are clear, but when are they ever? However, I figured that committing them to paper . . . er . . . bits would at least set for me a tangible goal, something visible, as a reminder of where I should be headed.

First, for reasons that are unimportant, I have not given shooting any real attention recently. Yes, I read Twitter and blog, and sometimes watch shows. But I haven’t shot in a match since last November, and I have probably only posted on this blog a couple of times a month. Even my wife has made the observation, and I have to admit, I am not happy with where I am.

That sucks.

That will change. Starting now.

So, for what it’s worth, here are my resolutions for the coming months:

Practice – dry fire, range time, all of it. I’ve even bought Ben Stoeger’s book on Dry Fire, at the example of Lee Bautista, and I now plan to read it, and use it.

Competition – the practice will lead to me resumption of USPSA shooting, starting in March. The goal here is to level up to C class by summer.

Blogging – I would love to get back to my one-time daily minimum, but for now let’s just say I will blog more. I have a lot of stuff saved as draft, and, like 90’s Saturday Night Live sketches, none of them are relevant any more. But, fortunately, new stuff arises daily, and I don’t see any problems.

Participating – I have been a member of the NRA for 20 years, and GeorgiaCarry.org for at least 5. It’s time I put some of my efforts to these causes.